


Virgil's Shadows

by AM_In_The_Morning



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Brotp, Codes & Ciphers, Emotional Hurt, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-05-21 08:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14911494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AM_In_The_Morning/pseuds/AM_In_The_Morning
Summary: [IN PROCESS OF CONSTANT EDITING]It’s been some time ever since Anxiety had disappeared, leaving the rest of the sides baffled and confused on why he left in the first place. Little do they realize that there is more to the story to why the negative facet vanished. Until one day, that story begins to reveal itself when a certain child appears in the commons.(Replaces the ACCEPTING ANXIETY videos)





	1. Chapter One: At

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zmw gsvm gsviv dviv gsivv

Roman awoke with a jolt. His forehead lined with sweat and his body slightly trembling from the strange dream he just woke up to.

A shudder passed through him, remembering the eerie sensation when he walked around the abyss. He could see his arms, legs, and the rest of his body. But apart from that, he was surrounded by nothing. Everything was dark… cold…

And even though he knew that he was alone, he could feel as if someone was staring at him.

Someone or something…

The same sensation began to creep up on him, making him more uncomfortable in his own bed than he already was, and without another thought, Roman got up and walked out of his room.

The floorboards creaked every time he took a step, even echoing throughout the hallway. _Perhaps a warm glass of milk will help_ , Roman thought. And yet he only received another sense of uneasiness washing over him, once he realized how distorted his shadow was becoming as he took his steps.

Roman shuddered once more, suddenly feeling something brush at the back of his neck. He whipped his head back to the hallway, but nothing greeted him, only the mocking silence… and the darkness.

But that wasn’t enough to stop Roman from calling out.

“Who’s there?”

Silence.

He knew he shouldn’t be shouting at three in the morning, but this feeling, this feeling that has been making him nervous and jittery for almost a week now was starting to run his patience out. Once, he thought that it was some kind of prank from Patton or Logan, but then he realized how unlikely the idea was. Patton wouldn’t trick him like this, and Roman couldn’t even imagine Logan being the one behind it.

 _Anxiety_.

However, as much as Roman wanted to believe that this was the negative facet’s doing, he couldn’t. They haven’t heard from Anxiety for more than a week, nor have they seen him come out from his room since the last Sanders Sides video.

Ignoring the temptation to find whatever was watching him, the creative side continued his way downstairs.

Three seconds later, he regretted his mistake.

A burning sensation suddenly bit Roman’s right leg, he was about to summon his sword until–– whatever that was biting him–– began to wrap itself around his ankle and pulled on harshly, making the creative side lose his balance and fall flat onto the floorboard. Pain immediately throbbed in his head once it met the wood, Roman thought he saw flashes of colours while his surroundings blurred before him, but the pain in his head and whatever that was roughly gripping his ankle quickly snapped him out of his daze. Before his senses returned completely, Roman turned around and saw a long, slithering –– “What the h–”

The snake pulled harshly once more, and this time, it was swiftly dragging Roman into a dark corner where shadows were beginning to stretch around the hallway. His senses returning, Roman mustered up all his strength and summoned a different kind of sword, one that was a lot different from his samurai one and much sharper than the former.

The searing pain in his ankle began to worsen as he was conjuring the weapon. It wasn’t bleeding from the snake bite, but the excruciating pain was similar to his leg being set on fire. Gritting his teeth in frustration and in pain, Roman concentrated more onto summoning his weapon.

The snake must have realized what Roman was trying to do as the air near the creative side’s hand was glowing and forming into the shape of a blade. The snake raised itself from Roman’s ankle while still grasping it and loomed over the side, hissing venomously with its glowing yellow eyes that were gleaming with delight once it saw Roman’s shocked gaze. It opened its mouth to reveal its razor-sharp fangs that were about to strike the creative side once more.

At the same time, Roman felt the sword beginning to take its physical form. He immediately grabbed it with all his remaining strength, too focused on his attacker to notice that the blade and handle was purely black and felt strange to his touch, and when the snake was about to reach his neck, it met the dark blade instead.

The hissing abruptly ended as the head of the serpent landed not too far from Roman’s side, its eyes remained open but the glowing dimmed and faded eventually.

Roman stared at the head, releasing the breath he didn’t knew that he was holding. He pushed one of his elbows to the ground to raise himself up, the burning pain in his ankle suddenly returned as was he doing so.

The head vanished into a puff of dark smoke, while the body recoiled from Roman and retreated into the corner along with the shadows and disappeared from his sight.

Whatever that thing, or those things were, Roman knew he had to deal with it later as he pulled the left side of his pyjama pants to see his ankle. He nearly gasped loudly once he saw the state of it. Two, small holes had been punctured into the middle part of the bitten area, it wasn’t bleeding but it was swelling and a strange, red colour was already spreading around the bite. His shoulders slumped when he suddenly felt lightheaded, his arms numb, breathing became difficult, and his vision became blurry. Roman tried to stay awake.

  
_Tried_.

  
“ROMAN!”

  
Darkness enveloped the corners of Roman’s sight, but before he could see who had called him, he already felt like falling.

  
Not too far away from the creative side, a pair of familiar, pensive eyes stared from the darkness of the hallway. Its gaze appeared to be weary, and it eventually dimmed and disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo this is the FIRST TIME I've actually published a fanfic so please bear with me. Also, do the notes at the beginning of the chapter make any sense to you?


	2. Chapter Two: bash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blf nrtsg mlg orpv dszg blf urmw. Yfg gsrh grnv, rg'h mlg yb Wvxvrg.

Patton caught Roman before he could hit the floor. His eyes were shut tight and his face was pale and drenched with sweat.

“Roman?” He shook the younger side, gentle at first, tried calling his name louder until Roman finally responded with a pained groan.

“Roman...” Patton swallowed down his sob as Roman fell silent once more. “Logan!”

The door to the logical side’s room burst open. He knew that something was wrong the moment he heard the loud thud a few seconds ago, and once he heard Patton’s voice, the worry in his usually cheery tone, he got up from his bed and dashed out of his room. His eyes frantically gazed around his surroundings, spotting Patton and Roman on the floor.

He let his mind calm down for a minute, as well as observing Roman who was shifting from the pain and Patton whose eyes were already watering at the sight of the creative side.

“Let’s take him to my room.” Logan met Patton’s gaze, willing him to stay calm and do as he says in order to help Roman. Patton didn’t respond for a moment, but he nodded meekly in the end, letting Logan place one arm under Roman’s neck and the other under his knees, careful not to move his ankle as he carried him towards his room.

The room seemed to shift after Logan took a step inside. It almost no longer resembled a bedroom as some of the bookshelves disappeared, the bed sheets became white, and a number of medical tools and medicines appeared on top of a table that was close to the bed.

Logan gently laid Roman on his bed, grabbing a pair of scissors to cut out the right pant leg of his pyjama. His eyes slightly widened at the wound, two holes had been punctured into the skin, along with that, Roman was clearly having trouble breathing and his face was scrunched in pain.

“My head… is burning…” Roman said through gritted teeth, his fingers digging into the bedsheets.

“Patton,” Logan said, almost a bit too sudden as Patton flinched “bring me some towels and a basin of water.”

Patton stared at him, eyes wide and frightened but then expressed realization a second afterwards. “R-right!” With a quick glance at the two of them, Patton rushed downstairs to retrieve the things Logan mentioned.

That should also keep him busy for a minute. Logan thought. He knew that the moral side wasn’t comfortable seeing Roman’s current state despite knowing as well that Patton wanted to help as much as possible.

Looking back at Roman’s ankle, he was positive that the snake bite (ignoring the endless questions in his mind as to how Roman got it in the first place) was poisonous. The bitten area was red and swelling, Roman was sweating and his breath was uneven, and though it was apparent on how much pain the creative side was in, he wasn’t moving as much as before. Numbness.

Once he analyzed the symptoms, Logan reached for the table beside him and grabbed a roll of elasticised bandage to apply the pressure immobilisation technique over the bite. Recalling what he had learned about various sorts of injures, applying this particular technique would delay the absorption of venom before–

Wait…

 _Wait_ …

Logan stopped his movements once his gaze fell on the wound.

The area of the snake bite no longer had its reddish colour. He took note of Roman’s breathing… it was becoming steady. And the punctured holes on the skin were…

Healing itself?

\-------------------------

  
Patton shivered as he filled the basin with water, the tiles beneath his feet were cold as stone and the air was noticeably chillier than usual. The brief flickering of the light bulb above him provided him no comfort either, and to add more to his uneasiness, the silence seemed too eerie if it weren’t for the water running down from the faucet.

 _Stay calm_.  
  
Patton took a deep breath. Everything will be all right, he told himself. Logan was already taking care of Roman. Roman’s going to be fine.

Realizing that the basin was almost full with water, Patton turned the faucet off and slowly made his way upstairs with the towel on his shoulder, careful not to spill anything especially on the stairway. He noticed that it was quiet when he reached the door to Logan’s room. Knocking a few times, Patton waited for the door to open.

The sound of footsteps was followed by a small click before he was let inside. “Logan–” His eyes caught sight of Roman, his chest gently rising and falling as he slept. “Logan, is he ok?” Patton whispered so he wouldn’t disturb the sleeping side.

“Yes…” Patton slightly frowned at Logan’s reply. His statement sounded more like a question, and with the logical side not looking at him directly as if he was deep in thought…

“Is there something wrong?” Patton placed the basin on a nearby table, waiting for Logan’s response.

After what it seemed like a moment, Logan finally met his gaze, and Patton was surprised to see confusion in his eyes. “While I was tending the wound on Roman’s ankle…”

Logan began explaining what happened. How the damage on the skin suddenly started to heal itself, how Roman’s body no longer affirmed the symptoms of a poisonous snake bite, and how and why it happened.

Actually, he didn’t explain the last part. In fact, he was wondering how and why it happened.

“But he’s okay, right?” Patton asked.

“He’s quite feverish at the moment. I’ll have to monitor him for a bit longer,” Logan said, pinching the bridge of his nose for a second, “and if I’m truly certain that he’s no longer suffering under the effects of the bite, then I can say that the danger’s passed.”

Patton let out a sigh of relief. At least the younger of two was going to be all right, despite the countless questions that surrounded them now. Speaking of questions…

“How do you think he got bit by a snake?” Patton asked, mystified.

“That puzzles me as well.” Logan said, irritation was slightly evident in his voice as he spoke. Patton knew that the logical side didn’t like it whenever he couldn’t understand something or knew the answer of a question. “I suppose all we can do now is just wait for him to wake up and ask him ourselves.”

Patton and Logan shifted their gaze to Roman. He was still pale but not as pale as before when he found him. His chest slowly rose and fell, giving Patton warmth at the sight of Roman sleeping peacefully.

Logan, on the other hand, was observing him quizzically from where he stood. It wasn’t common for such things like snakes to exist in the mindscape unless a side with the ability to create would want to, but Roman conjuring a snake to bite him afterwards would be absolutely ridiculous.

But then again, Roman wasn’t the only one capable of creating.

Patton turned to Logan, one eyebrow raised when the expression in the logical side’s suddenly lit up in what it seemed to be like realization. “Logan?”

“Do you still recall the recent events that happened in Roman’s dreamscape?” Logan suddenly asked. Patton widened his eyes, but replied nonetheless.

“Yes, he said that it was because of those murky things he called Nightmares?”

“Precisely.” Logan was now facing him properly. “What if these creatures that caused the chaos in Roman’s dreamscape were the same ones that attacked him?”

“What?” Patton nearly forgot not to raise his voice out of shock. “But– but we haven’t seen any of those things for a long time. I mean, is it even possible for them to enter this part of the mindscape?”

“Perhaps not, perhaps they can, but they’ve already shown that they are capable of entering not just the mindscape, but our dreams–” Patton tried to hide that he didn’t have any dreams about the creatures but Logan shushed him. “We all dreamed of them at least once. I’ve known.”

Patton looked away. “I’m sorry that I didn’t say anything.” He said, rubbing his right arm.

“It’s all right.” Logan gently said, before continuing on with his normally monotone voice.

“But why attack Roman?” Patton asked, worriedly glancing at the creative side.

“That, I am not sure.” Logan admitted. “Along with that, I still lack the necessary evidence to prove my theory is correct and to solve what Roman was really doing late at night or should I say early in the morning–”

Patton smirked. Logan realized what he was trying to imply. “That wasn’t even a joke!”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything.” Patton raised his hands in defence, but the smile was still plastered on his face.

“What I am trying to say,” Logan continued “is that the most likely cause of Roman’s current state is the shadows, or the ‘Nightmares’ as Roman would like to call. Though these things have always been around in the mindscape, they’ve never set foot upon the other corners of Thomas’ mind apart from the subconscious… until recently, I suppose.”

Patton swallowed, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. Among the things why the shadows were very dangerous was that they can manifest into your deepest fears, and the shadows have visited his dreams several times before, leaving him to wake up nauseous and drenched in cold sweat. Just as he was about to say something to Logan, a thought suddenly arrived in his head that made him froze. “Anxiety…”

“What?”

“Logan, Anxiety!” Patton suddenly became even more worried. “We haven’t seen him for the last few weeks! What if the shadows got to him too?!”

“Patton, calm down–”

Patton didn’t. Grabbing Logan by the shoulders, he frantically continued. “He could be in danger! Maybe he’s all alone in his room! Maybe the shadows hurt him and he’s– he’s–”

“Patton!” Logan slightly raised his voice, not too loud to disturb Roman but enough to catch Patton’s attention. “I’m concerned about Anxiety as well.” He said. It was true. Thought it wasn’t uncommon for the negative facet to hide in his room for days, he would always show up every once or twice either to grab a snack from the kitchen or to occasionally join the other three’s discussions about future videos. Adding to that, this was the longest time Anxiety stayed in his room without any interaction from the outside as well.

“We need to check on him!” Patton’s protectiveness for the youngest side was clear in his tone.

Logan sighed quietly. His logical reasoning versus Patton’s parental instincts? The win would apparently go to the latter. “Fine,” He decided “however, I will be the one checking on him. You will stay here with Roman.”

Patton frowned and began to protest. “But–”

“Patton, your apprehension regarding Anxiety’s well-being would immediately heighten once we enter his room.” Logan explained. “It would be best if we avoid the risk of you becoming corrupted, furthermore, Roman needs someone beside him once he wakes up.”

Patton was still frowning, mainly because Logan wasn’t letting him come with. But, even so, Logan was right. Especially the part where Roman needed someone to explain things once he awakes.

“I guess you’re right.” Patton sighed in defeat.

“I will return as soon as I can.” Logan promised. With a brief squeeze on Patton’s shoulder, he leaves.

  
As Logan made his way to Anxiety’s corner of the mindscape, he tried to ignore the strange tightness he felt in his chest. Though Anxiety’s room was known for the negative and anxious thoughts dwelling there, for some reason, Logan knew that the feeling– no, sensation he had that something was wrong wasn’t because of the room’s influence. And once again, he became frustrated.

  
Frustrated because he didn’t know why.

  
_Don’t jump into conclusions._ Logan berated himself as the what if’s began to race in his mind. He tried the 4-7-8 breathing method to keep his breath steady and his nerves from spiking.

  
But when Logan reached Anxiety’s door and teleported inside when it was evident that the negative side wasn’t going to reply, his heart seemed to skip a beat once he saw the interior of the room.

  
In front of him was the devastated and destroyed room of Anxiety, broken pieces from the furniture and shards of a broken mirror decorated the floor along with small puddles of inky black liquid, the walls were cracked, and the bed was destroyed in half.  
It was as if a storm had come and tore down every last object it found.

  
Logan stared at the sight in front of him, he received more questions than answers, but one thing was clear in his mind as he let his bewildered gaze scan every corner of the room.

  
The shadows have indeed got to Anxiety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It'll make sense in the next chapter. 
> 
> Speaking of which, the reason I've posted early (ignoring my inner voice that screams: YOU CALL THIS EARLY?!) is because my schedule for the next week will be hectic. There's school, and... well, it's mostly school. So I hope this chapter will make up for my absence and I PROMISE (put those pitchforks down please) that I will try to update quick and maybe I might even add a new chapter in less than a week (inner voice: yea right).
> 
> ALSO, my first readers back at chapter one would notice a few changes. Here's the reason why: my mind was still debating whether I proceed with Plot A or Plot B but then I thought: why not both? So yeah, hence the changes and editing. Hehe.


	3. A note. No this is not really a part of the story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He walked with them, but he was nothing like them."

  **R** emember the time I said about a hectic week ang incredibly frustratin **g '** sc **h** ool work?

This **m** ay not be a surprise but that week turned out to be **l** on **g** er.

I know this story isn't really that popular but I just want to leave an interestin **g**  note to the reader **s** of this story: **V** irgil's Shadows.

 **W** ell, I have been quite interested as well at **z** oology. Apolog **i** es that was random. **P** erhaps I have been drinking too **m** uch coffee. Oh about Thomas' **v** ines, I miss **h** is old ones. Not that I **h** ave complaints.

A **b** out al **l** the current ones o **f** course.

A **h** here we go again, my tangent **s** oh how sil **l** y o **f o** ld me. **W** ell here we go again.

I'm running out of things to say **d** uh and apparent **l** y. Oh well, I'll leave the rest of the stuff here: **iib z** **ylfg**

**Yfg gsv gsmth gszg srwy rm ng**

 

Another note: Kudos to the ones who will actually know what I mean and not think that I'm losing my mind XD


	4. Chapter Three: The Letters of Caesar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edit: The shift is 23
> 
> Zkhuh gr wkhb frph iurp? Zkhuh gr wkhb jr?

Logan could barely stop his mouth from opening in shock. His gaze slowly scanned every part of the room, eyeing every broken and damaged piece.

In the end, Logan found himself staring at the closet placed near the destroyed bed. Out of all the destroyed furniture and objects, he could consider that it was the only thing that seemed to have the least damaged despite the uncanny claw marks that run around its edges.

Claw marks

Logan turned his attention from the closet and instead began walking around, the sheer quietness of the room made his breaths sound too loud and and his footsteps sounding as if he was stomping. It was also difficult to see things clearly as the dim lighting seemed to make everything else appear jarringly dark and devoid of colour.

Then his eyes fell to the floor when he heard a small rustle, and realized that he had stepped on a folded piece of paper. Curiously, Logan took the paper from the ground, giving it a quick study of its crumpled features, the not so noticeable ripped edges of its right side proved that it was torn carefully from a book and ink seemed to be faintly splattered on its surface. Now you may be wondering why Logan was suddenly interested in this particular parchment. At first he really wasn't, but when he saw something written on it, his eyes squinted as he tried to read the words---

Thud.

Logans head whipped to his left side, to the direction where the noise had come from.

The closet.  
  
At the same moment, the room began to worsen its effects on him, but with all the rational thinking he had left, Logan ignored every thought that screamed: RUN RUN RUN

Another sound cut through the silence that followed after, it was muffled but loud enough for Logan to hear.

Each of his steps was careful but Logan remained vigilant of his surroundings at the same time. Though the logical side didnt want to admit it, but the simple task of walking was making him… well, anxious.

The handle felt cold to his touch and even the small creak of the closet seemed to echo throughout the room.

Once again, he disregarded the screaming thoughts and voices that danced around his head (How on earth did Anxiety manage to ignore all this?) and slowly pulled the handle until it revealed what was inside.

In the darkness of the closet's interior, he could see a pair of eyes staring up to him.

And Logan stared back, dumbfounded.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Patton gently lifted the cooled cloth from Roman's forehead as a yawn escaped his lips. The younger side was still asleep, but thankfully, his fever had gone down much further and his breaths were no longer short and quick like before.

The room was quiet except for the soft ticking of the grandfather clock and Roman's peaceful breathing, however, that did not provide enough comfort for Patton. He may be in Logan's room, its influence giving him reminders to be patient and to not jump into conclusions, but that didn't stop the eldest side from worrying over the ones who were not with him as of this moment.

Especially Anxiety.

It wasn't like he favored the negative facet more than the other two, but from the moment Patton first saw him, he knew he had to be there for the youngest one.

Though Anxiety appeared to be intimidating and disapproving of many things, he was only trying to protect Thomas from the countless dangerous things of the world. Patton _knows_ that Anxiety was only trying to protect Thomas, because he was well aware of the darker sides of the world as well. However, even with this knowledge, Patton didn't let that stop him from focusing on the good ones. Rather than seeing the world for what it appeared to be, Patton sees it for what it can be. And if the world can be a better place, then that would be enough to continue smiling.

And he applied the same thing to the youngest side. It was no doubt that Anxiety lives up to his name, but Patton knew that he was so much more than that.

A small smile replaced the worry on Patton's face as he remembered the rare yet kind gestures Anxiety would do, while he adjusted the blanket around Roman and checking his temperature once more. Of course no one else knew about this side (pun not intended) of Anxiety except for Patton, since he wanted the other two to find about it themselves.

_Speaking of which…_

Patton glanced at the grandfather clock for the sixth time since Logan went to check on Anxiety. Fifteen minutes since Logan had left, and the younger of the two wasn't back yet. At the same time, the clock let out a not-so-loud _clang_ once it struck four.

 _Four_. It was still four in the morning. No wonder he felt so tired, but Patton shook the thought away when he felt his eyelids becoming heavy. He needed to wait for Logan, to be awake when Roman is awake, and to confirm that Anxiety was safe and sound.

And then there was that strange feeling again.

Apparently, it should be to no one's surprise by now whenever Patton became incredibly concerned over the youngest facet, but he couldn't help but feel that particular strange sensation washing over him every time he thought of the younger. He was worried, yes, but there was another thing that kept nagging at the back of his mind and a feeling that seemed to seperate his usual thoughts.

Perhaps the best way to describe it is to state that it wasn't so different from the feeling of being watched, but only this time, Patton felt like something was very wrong. Like a knot twisting in his chest that could make him breathe improperly or his entire body feeling so cold that made his legs feel numb and shaky.

Whatever it was, the feeling usually came at random. There were times when Patton was simply and happily baking when the dread seemed to suddenly wrap around him. There would be times when he would be just sleeping, and then later wake up feeling cold and nervous.

Similar to what he was feeling now.

Not letting the new wave of uneasiness drown him, Patton inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly afterwards. Repeating the same technique as many as it took for him to calm his already spiking nerves.

However, little did Patton realize, a mist-like shadow had began to creep up behind him. Deliberately, it manifested itself from one of the corners of the room and slowly, agonizingly slowly, slithered its way towards the unsuspecting personality. Whatever the shadow touched lost its color and turned dark as the room's temperature began to drop, and Patton, who was too focused on controlling his breathing and closing his eyes, did not know that the air he was exhaling was becoming similar to a cloud of steam as he let out another breath.

It was only a matter of time before he noticed the cold, but the shadow was already a few steps close to him. It crawled from the floor to the walls, and then slowly detached itself as its mist-like body expanded and revealed its wide and beady, white eyes.

In the mind of the shadow, it was delighted and pleased of the obliviousness of its prey, even more so when he saw the sleeping form beside the personality. Two of them! It thought. The fear of one was already enough for the shadow to last for more than a couple of days, oh it would become so much stronger once it devours another.

Unable to contain its hunger any longer, the shadow's inky, limbs stretched from the wall as it reached to Patton. But just as its darkness was about to touch its soon-to-be victim, it froze upon hearing footsteps outside the room. It wasn't alarmed at first. But once it sensed that _he_ was close, it didn't even hesitate to flee, vanishing through the walls and leaving no trace of its visit. The darkened parts of the floor and walls returned to its normal shade of color and the air was no longer cold.

Almost at the same moment, Patton opened his eyes once he heard a knock sounding from behind the door. He blinked at first, wondering how quick the nervous feeling vanished in a matter of seconds, but shook the thought away when he heard the knock again.

Glancing at the clock, he realized it was now 4:01 a.m.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this is certainly not one of the best chapters in the story. This one was supposed to be longer but I decided that it's been a really, really long tome since I posted a chapter so I cut the one I was working on in half for the sake of updating.
> 
> The next chapter will be uploaded before the month ends (wait, that doesn't sound so reassuring either--) BUT ANYWAY, as I've said: I hope you guys understand the pressure of a graduating highschool student, apologies for this terrible chapter but I still hope that you enjoyed it. 
> 
> Bonus:  
> Qhaw wkuhh fkdswhuv vkdoo eh DC rqh wzr vla.


	5. Chapter Four: Another Letter From Caesar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (To ease some of my readers' suffering, I'll let you know that this has a shift of three.)
> 
>  
> 
> "Ghdu Ylujlo, zrq'w brx frph rxw wr sodb?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you guys remembered the note Logan found in Anxiety's room in the previous chapter. Spoiler alert: a certain someone said that it'll play an important role later on. Spoiler alert: That certain someone is me.

_Logan was quiet._

Patton was worried. When he asked the logical side about Anxiety, Logan had hesitated for a moment before answering. And now as they descended downstairs, Patton's uneasiness only grew.

Apart from his apparent quietness, Logan's posture was too stiff and his mouth was opening and closing as if he wanted to say something but then changed his mind at the next second.

Unable to contain his worry any longer, Patton asked. “Logan, are you–”

Then Logan suddenly stopped, Patton nearly bumping from behind. Now Patton was even more concerned, but when he was about to open his mouth, Logan had started to walk again.

Silence continued to envelop around them for another while until they arrived in the living room, which was the only room that had its lights on. Logan finally turned to face Patton, holding a gaze that was difficult to read in his eyes. “There is someone you need to meet.”

“Someone?”

Logan nodded wordlessly and turned his head away but didn’t move. Patton realized that he was looking at something– no, someone, who was sitting on the couch with his back facing the two sides. For what Patton could see, it looked like a young boy. A very young one, to be exact, with dark brown and dishevelled hair. But apart from that, he could not sense or recognize who the boy was. Patton wondered that maybe he was a side he hadn’t met yet.

Logan cleared his throat before speaking. “Let’s sit over there.” He said, leading Patton to the couch.

The boy glanced back at them when Logan spoke, and in that brief moment, Patton almost missed child’s eyes flash with an expression that seemed to be an odd mix of worry and relief. He scooted over to the other side of the couch, giving space for Patton and Logan to sit.

It suddenly became too quiet in the living room, even when the boy was sitting beside the two, he only stared at Logan and then at Patton. _He looks familiar-_

"Hello.” He suddenly said, making Patton jump.

“Oh,” Patton rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly “hello too, kiddo.”

The boy's cheeks were lightly dusted with pink, embarrassed that he had surprised the older man. Lowering his head a bit, he continued. "Um… can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Patton said "what do you want to know?"

“You’re Morality, right?”

“Yes, I am.” Patton smiled. “But you can call me Patton.”

The boy looked past him for a second. “Just like Logic is Logan?”

“Yeah."

“Oh, ok...” The boy didn’t say anything else afterwards as his face slightly scrunched up, deep in thought.

As he did so, Patton felt something tap on his shoulder. "Lo?"

"Please stay with him for a moment." Logan said. "I have to… tend to Roman."

Patton gave him a small frown. He still wanted to ask him about a lot of things, but seeing that look in the intellectual aspect's eyes, he realized that Logan needed some time alone, to think about some things perhaps. "Okay." He said, sighing quietly.

Logan gave a nod as a thank you before letting go of Patton's shoulder.

Patton turned his attention back to the boy. "So, anything else you would like to know, kiddo?" He said, offering him a smile.

"Oh, um… does everyone in the mindscape have names?”

“Mm-hmm.” Patton answered. “Well, actually, some of us already have names when we manifested. Others who didn’t have any when they appeared decided to choose one for their selves.”

“There are others?” The boy inched closer, just a little bit, becoming more and more curious.

Patton chuckled a bit, glad that he wasn't so nervous anymore. “Yep.”

As the conversation went on, Patton's thoughts slowly drifted back to Logan. He remained unaware of what might be the cause of the intellectual aspect's worry and his own questions haven't been given any answers yet. Nevertheless, Patton reminded himself that Logan had promised to explain things later.

Even so, the knot of nervousness never got untied in his stomach. To see Logan like that, something must’ve indeed confounded him. But before this trail of thought would lead to a darker path, Patton firmed his focus on the young boy’s questions since he too seemed like a mystery yet to be solved.

“So Thomas can summon anyone at any time?”

“Well, if he is aware of the physical presence of that particular aspect then yes, I suppose he can summon anyone if he wants to.” Patton says, smiling once more when he realized that the boy was practically sitting right next to him. There was almost no space left between them since he began asking the elder side with questions. “As for that last question, he can usually summon us whenever he wants to but I wish that the kiddo would give us a warning before he does so."

“Why?"

"Sometimes, Thomas calls us at random. Whether you're brushing your teeth or doing something else," Patton chuckled at a certain memory of his own experience before continuing "once you feel a strong tug-like sensation, you're automically going to manifest."

"Can the sides manifest in the real world by their selves?" The boy tilted his head to one side, already looking more like a curious pup. Once again, he suddenly looked so _familiar_ , like a scene from an old memory.

"Yes, and we usually do so nowadays." Patton said, placing a hand on his chin. "Whenever we do manifest ourselves, it's mostly because Thomas needs our help for certain things or to make another video with him."

The boy nodded in understanding, silent as he let the new information sink in. Patton waited for him to ask again, but now that he was quiet, the elder side realized a question of his own. One that he should've asked since the beginning their conversation started.

"Kiddo," He said softly, earning the boy's attention. He looked alarmed for a quick second.

"Yes?"

"Don't worry, I'm just gonna ask you something. Is that okay?" At this, the boy gave a meek nod. "Is it okay too if I ask your name?"  
  
Silence.

Something quickly flickered in the boy's eyes that nearly made Patton miss, but even though he had seen it, Patton couldn't tell exactly what. Confusion? Surprise? Alarm?! The boy's mouth hanged slightly open but no words came from his mouth, and then his whole body stiffened.

 _What did I– Oh no_. He must've did something wrong! Patton became frantic as he saw slight tremors shaking the boy's body. He was no longer looking at Patton but at the floor, eyes wide and looking almost panicked. "I mean it's okay if you don't want to! It's totally fine! Really! And it can come later! What’s more important now is–”

"Anxiety…"

The word was said in such a quiet tone that it could have been easily mistaken as a huff, but it was enough to cut through Patton's rambling.

A couple of agonizingly slow seconds later, Patton finally found his voice. "W-what?"

The boy took a small breath and quietly sighed, slowly, he lifted his gaze to meet Patton's eyes. "My name is Anxiety."

Patton stared at him, unable to say anything as he let the revelation of the name sink in. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, a part of him says. But why would this child have the same name of Anxiety out of all people? And with the smudged eyeliner just below his eyes, his bangs that nearly covered his eyes, and the anxiousness he often showed as they spoke, it was almost easy to believe that this boy _is_ Anxiety.

But deep inside, Patton knew that it wasn’t really the name that made him stunned. It was the question that if this boy really is the negative facet…

Then why didn’t “Anxiety” recognize him and Logan?

“Patton?”

The voice brought him back to reality, and Patton had to blink a few more times to realize that he hasn’t moved a muscle for quite a while.

Anxiety fidgeted with his hands, a look of worry on his face. “Did I say something wrong?”

Patton hesitated. “No it just surprised me. That’s all. You kind of… share the same name of someone I know.” He chuckled awkwardly. Patton inwardly wished that the boy wouldn’t notice the tone in his voice, that his sentenced had sounded more like a question rather than a statement.  
  
Thankfully, he did. “Oh.” Anxiety said; his shoulders visibly relaxing before he let out a tired yawn.

Had the situation been different, Patton would have been smiling at the sight of a child Anxiety rubbing his eyes. Patton _is_ smiling though, but the majority of his feelings were confusion and worry of what might have really happened to the Anxiety he knows.

He pushed those dark thoughts away, but knew that they would come back later.

“It’s still a bit early, kiddo.” Patton said softly, glancing at the wall clock. “You should get some sleep.”

“No, I’m good.” Anxiety answered, at the same time, he yawned. “On second thought, you’re right. I should.”

Patton smiled at that. “Okay, I’ll have to check on someone in the meantime. I’ll also get some pillows and–”

“Um…” Anxiety started playing with his fingers again, lowering his head a bit. “Can I… come with you? I don’t, I mean, if that’s… okay?”

Patton thought for a moment, noticing how Anxiety gave a few glances around his surroundings. The living room was the only place where the lights are on, and the rest of the place was quite dark. “It’s just that…” Anxiety began to rub the back of his neck, and Patton knew what that gesture meant all too well.

“It is.” Patton smiled, standing up. “Come with me, then.”

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Anxiety stood up from his seat and walked by Patton’s side as they headed upstairs.

\--------------------------

“You’re room sure looks comfy.”

Patton hummed quietly. “Thanks.” He turned to Anxiety once he finished folding some blankets and placed a couple of soft pillows on top of it. “Do you want to change, kiddo?” Patton asked, noticing the oversized sweater Anxiety wore and the shoes that looked quite too big for him.

"Hm? Oh." Anxiety lifted one arm. "It's quite cosy for me, I guess, so maybe later."

"All right then. Is this okay for you?" Patton gestured to the blankets and pillows he held. He only had purple blankets at the moment since the other ones were still in the laundry basket. Remembering that the negative facet liked dark colours, he was a bit worried if the young Anxiety didn't like such a shade of-

"It's perfect." Anxiety said.

_Huh, guess not._

He noticed that Anxiety seemed to be astonished at the sight of, well, everything in his room. The young facet slowly began to walk around the place, eyeing the rewards and trophies, the old drawings and poems Thomas made when he was young, and much to the surprise of Patton, he realized that Anxiety was now looking (and staying that way) at the various old toys Thomas used to have. "Patton, what is this?" Anxiety tilted his head to one side, studying a yellow stuffed toy placed on top of Patton's bed as if it was the strangest thing he has ever seen.

Patton widened his eyes. "You mean Winnie the Pooh?"

"Winnie-the-what now?" Anxiety didn't even look away from the bear, his eyebrows furrowed as he studied the toy.

In spite of the dark foreboding that rests within him, Patton managed to make a smile. "That's a story for another day." He gently ruffled the younger boy's hair. "Come on, it's time for sleep."

"Can I get a glass of water first?" Anxiety asked.

"Sure." But before Patton could take a step, Anxiety stopped him.

"I mean, you've done so much already, I can get it by myself… if that's okay?"

"Of course it's okay," Patton smiled "but are  _you_ okay with going downstairs alone?"

Anxiety waved a hand. "Yeah, I can handle it."

"Kiddo, you just said you don't like to be alone earlier." Patton said but not unkindly.

"Okay maybe I did," Anxiety admitted "but that was before. I'm good with it now, I promise."

Patton thought for a second. "All right," He said "I'll be in Logan's room if you need me. It's the dark blue door beside mine."

Anxiety nodded twice before scurrying off.

\--------------------------

The first thing Patton saw when he entered the room was Roman.  
  
“Hey, Pat.” Roman gave a smile as Logan handed him a glass of water.

Patton let out a big sigh of relief as he walked towards the two, standing beside Logan. “You feeling all right, sport?”

Roman shrugged. “Still a bit dizzy, but I’m good.”

“Thank goodness.”

Logan leaned a bit towards Patton. “Where’s the boy?” He whispered.

Patton tilted his head to the door. “He’s at the kitchen, and he’s going to sleep in my room for a bit.”

Silence shortly hung in the air until Roman cleared his throat, one eyebrow raised at the two.

“So,” Logan cleared his throat as well “care to explain how you got bit?”

It almost seemed liked ages ago since Patton found Roman on the floor that the both of them nearly forgot about it.

Roman held a hand to his forehead. “My memory is quite foggy at the moment,” He began “but one thing I’m certain of is the shadows.”

Patton inhaled sharply while Logan only gave a nod. “And I presume that it manifested into a snake?”

“Yes and the rest is history.” Roman carefully swung his legs to the edge of the bed. “Now if you don’t mind, I’ll be going–”

“You’re not going anywhere, young man.” Patton stopped him. “You need to rest and that leg of yours still needs to heal.”

“We’re the same age!” Roman complained “And my leg’s already fine, see!” He gestured to the bandaged area. “It’s still a bit numb but Logan said that the wound has healed hence it’s–”

Patton gave him the look.

“Fine…” The creative side huffed, crossing his arms as he lay back to bed.

Logan sighed as he pulled a nearby chair to sit on. “We shall discuss that particular event later. But for now, there is something that I must tell to the both of you.”

At the last few words, Logan met Patton’s eyes and then Roman’s.

Sharing a look of concern with the creative side, Patton sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Logan to continue. In the silence that followed, Logan tried to think of ways of saying what he knew to his fellow sides. _Try not to alarm them_ , he thought, but how was he supposed to do that if the information he held was–

_KNOCK KNOCK_

Roman stared at the door. _I thought there are currently only three people in this house_. He thought. _Unless_ …

“I’ll get it.” Patton volunteered.

_What?!_

The creative side was surprised to hear how casual Patton sounded. He looked at Logan to see his reaction, but in the end, Roman realized that he was the only one who seemed to be surprised out of the three of them.

_Did something happen while I was asleep?_

Roman craned his head to see who Patton was talking to, but he could only hear voices as Patton was standing in front of the visitor.

Out of pure curiosity ~~which was a good excuse as it still counts as seeking knowledge~~ , Roman strained his hearing.

“–be sleeping down the living room.”

Wait, that sounded like a kid.

Roman pushed himself from the bed, but froze once he did so. He caught sight of a short figure standing outside the door. A young boy, about the age of eight to ten, with dishevelled, brown hair and was wearing an oversized, black sweater. He and Patton were still talking, but Roman couldn’t quite hear their words.

He met the boy's eyes.

And then he started to hear a strange ringing in his ears. Pain immediately shot up in his head, making Roman squeeze his eyes shut.

Normally, when people close their eyes, they would see darkness. However, Roman did not.

In that quick second, it was like seeing a movie that kept glitching every moment. Images flashed in his mind, appearing too quick and leaving too soon for him to understand or remember.

When he opened his eyes again, he wondered why the lights looked too brighter than before. Roman held a hand to his head, groaning.

“Roman?” A hand touched his shoulder. Roman _nearly_ flinched. “What’s wrong?”

Roman had to blink a few more times, registering that it was a blackish, bluish blob with glasses– no, Logan, it was Logan talking to him. “Headache.” He answered quietly, unsure.

 _Must be the side effects of whatever Logan did to heal me._  He thought.

“-Okay, kiddo. Call me if you need anything, all right?”

“Got it. See ya.” The boy gave a two-fingered salute and left.

Patton slowly closed the door, his smile vanishing as soon as it was shut. Both the logical and moral sides looked dazed in the silence that followed, leaving Roman to break it once it took too long. “If you don’t mind me asking,” He carefully began “but who was that?”

Logan only sighed as Patton went back to his seat. “Thank you for keeping him company earlier, Patton.” He said.

“It’s no biggie. He’s good to have a chat with but…”

The two sides waited for Patton to continue, his pause taking longer than a few seconds. “But what?” Roman prompted.

When Patton lifted his eyes from the ground, they realized that his face was a mixture of worry and a tad exhausted at the same time. His usual cheeriness was almost nowhere to be found, and when he spoke, Patton sounded almost upset.

“He said his name is Anxiety.”

Roman widened his eyes. So he had come back. But that boy was him? But why on earth did he look so… different?

Clearly, something had happened when he was unconscious. There were signs the moment he woke up, the look on Logan’s eyes, the short whisper-conversation he and Patton had, and now that boy whose name happens to be Anxiety.

Roman turned to Logan, whose gaze have been turned away from the both of them and was currently looking at the ground. He began tapping a rhythm on his lap, which was strange since he rarely showed any signs of nervousness before. But that was the question now, was it?

What was Logan so nervous about?

Logan adjusted his glasses. “I know you all have questions,” He slowly began “I am able to provide you with answers however, I… I am not so _**sure**_ of them myself.”

Patton clasped a hand to the logical side’s shoulder, encouraging him to continue.

Logan looked a little lost for a quick second before composing himself again. Once he did so, he continued. “Earlier, Roman, when the shadows attacked you, we began to worry for Anxiety’s well-being as well, especially with the fact that we have not seen him for the past few weeks.”

 _Past few weeks_. The last time they all have a conversation with him was a few days after the last Sanders Sides video they made. He didn’t know why but Roman had been struggling to remember those days. However, he did remember Anxiety acting strange– no, cut that, stranger– than before.

He said he was going to say something to Roman though, something that was important.

But then again, that was the most frustrating thing about it, since Roman could no longer remember any of the events that followed during and after that particular night.

“–So Patton suggested that we should check on him. And so I did while he stayed here.” Logan paused for a few seconds. “But when I arrived in his room…” Another pause. “I found that that part of the mindscape was already in ruins.”

Logan sees Roman’s jaw drop and hears Patton's gasp. The moral side was holding a hand to his mouth, tears already starting to form around the corners of his eyes.

“No,” Patton suddenly said, inhaling sharply “please continue.”

And Logan did. Reluctant, but he did. “Everything there was broken and damaged, there were pools of black liquid on the ground, signs of struggle and all… but there was no sign of Anxiety.”

Roman stared at Logan. “But… but who’s that boy then?”

Logan rubbed his hands together. “Forgive me for this but that is a question in which I cannot answer with **_full certainty_**.” He admitted. “But with all the evidence found in his room, the black liquid, the way how the objects there have been damaged, I suspect that the shadows have somehow managed to enter his room thus causing its present state. And with that… it would appear so that the child may be the reformed manifestation of our fellow side.”

_Reformed? What did Logan mean by…?_

Realization dawned upon Roman, and at the same time, Patton did so too.

A choked sob broke the quietness, one that seemed to echo throughout the mindscape. Patton lowered his head, but it was not needed to see his expression in order to realize what he was feeling. Teardrops fell on the moral side’s laps as his shoulders trembled, and then, Patton lifted his head up. “He’s… faded. Isn't he…?”

Logan said nothing. But only met Patton’s eyes, and then slowly, he nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering why Patton didn't recognize his dark, strange, son that fast, remember that this is BEFORE they accepted Anxiety. The latter usually stays away from the others, apart from creating videos, thus why they only know so little about him. 
> 
> Believe me when I say that your decoding skills will be needed in the chapters yet to come. They are not really necessary to solve but if you like puzzles and a lot of foreshadowing, well, you know what to do.
> 
> Another thing is that THERE is a hint or tip of how to decode the cryptograms in every chapter. It's very obvious once you have found it.
> 
> ALSO I shamelessly admit that I love comments and I love hearing your thoughts of how this story will go. It's okay if you don't want to! I'm just innocently expressing my thoughts too people.
> 
> ANOTHER ALSO:
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you guys remembered the note Logan found in Anxiety's room in the previous chapter.


	6. Chapter Five: 5th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> F hjwyfns yfl rnlmy gj hmfslji

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing that came to my mind when I published this:
> 
> "Freaking finally." I said.

No one slept when the evening came.

As much as he tries to ignore the exhaustion creeping up on his body, Logan could barely afford to stop in his investigations. Ten hours of recalling and researching the past Shadow incidents have resulted into nothing more but questions and not enough answers.

Running a hand through his hair, Logan continued to write. Usually, the second youngest side cared a lot about organizing his surroundings, from the books which were categorized perfectly by genre and alphabetical order, to his wardrobe where there were even drawers that labelled which clothing was in it, and down to the files of to-do lists, accomplishments, and certificates of their host all categorized neatly.

However, this time, that organized demeanour wasn’t so evident in the logical side’s study room. Crumpled papers were scattered almost everywhere and the bulletin board where reminders and lists of what-to-do that were supposed to be pinned there were replaced with more papers, pictures, and strings that connected each one to another. Does Logan notice the mess? Yes. Does he care? Not one bit.

 _Breathe_.

He would clean up later; he told himself when he first noticed. After all, his work was much more important than anything else as of this moment, even a little break could make it all in vain more than it already was–

Logan froze, his grip tightening around his pen. Gritting his teeth, Logan ignored that last thought and continued with his work.

In that split second where the logical side stopped moving for the first time in hours, the strain of his hunched up shoulder and the aching of the rest of his body nearly hit Logan like a train.

Even so, it wasn’t enough for him to stop. Not yet.

Though he finished the last sentence on his paper a bit more slowly than before, Logan forced his legs to walk towards the bulletin board, ignoring the sudden flashes of colours when he stood up too fast. He brought his gaze towards the mess of papers and pictures in front him, exhaustion evident in his eyes.

 _Breathe_.

Most of the papers pinned to the board were statements from the Shadow victims, or those who complained of frequent nightmares and strange fevers. The lot of them were from Roman’s realm, some were the lesser figments in Roman’s kingdom, some were Roman’s fellow monarchs, and some were even those who had come from lesser-known areas of the mindscape, which could only mean that the Shadows have already reached those areas since who knows when.

Back then when Logan and the others first investigated these complaints, none of them were truly aware of the cause of the nightmares and sickness. Roman previously believed that the most likely cause was Thomas’ nightmare manifestations. These manifestations were the consequences of Thomas'nightmares, the ones that wake him up looking pale and sick to his stomach. During the nightmare, it will appear in Roman's realm and take the form of a creature. Usually orcs or dragons, or even a combination of two.

The strange thing however, is that the supposed nightmare manifestation can’t be seen by its victims, at least not in daylight, nor can they remember what they properly look like, and that no one received a warning before the nightmares and sickness had begun.

Now, Logan and his fellow sides finally know why. They weren’t manifestations of Thomas’ nightmares. They were Shadows, which are much worse.

 _Breathe_.

The victims all had different statements of the creature they last saw before they fell asleep, but one thing in common was that they saw a black, inky form standing or floating before them. Among of Logan’s illustrations showed a dark, ghost-like mist with round white eyes. Another showed a short, black creature with arms and legs, a pair of crooked antennas and glowing yellow eyes. The victims described creatures similar to the two of these, but a number of them could not even describe what they had seen at all. Something about a monstrous beast but that was all Logan could make sense out of their descriptions.

Logan forced his gaze away from the board, frustration building up once more. His surroundings only reminded him that sure, he’s at least found what the Shadows look like and the effects on their victims. But he hasn’t found a way to stop them yet.

And there it was again, the irritation was making his head ache even more. The logical side took a few breaths as an attempt to calm his own breathing. A small part of him was screaming for rest and for him to continue his work later, but Logan remained stubborn and ignored it.

 _Breathe_.

Taking another breath, Logan strode back to his seat, hands automatically grabbing a pen and paper to write again.

They were all fortunate that the victims were no longer suffering from the nightmares as much as before, even though the nightmares still come around every once in a while. They were fortunate that Roman wasn’t severely harmed during the Shadows’ earlier attack on him, even though the creative side still needed to be monitored. They– he himself, the intellectual facet, the supposedly smart side of Thomas’ personality, has already wasted precious time doing nothing before and that carelessness resulted into the events that followed. He wouldn’t be even surprised if the others blamed him for–

 _Breathe_.

The rest of his body screamed rest once again, and once again as well, it was ignored by the logical side. Barely this time.

Logan shook his head, trying to regain his focus when he realized that he hasn’t started writing yet.

For some reason, he finds it difficult to put pen to paper.

He didn’t notice until now how quiet his surroundings were. With nothing but the sound of his own breathing and the soft ticking of the clock, Logan found himself accepting defeat as he let his body rest. If you count staying still as "rest" that is.

No more than a minute later, Logan's mind drifted into a recollection of the past, or to be more accurate, the events that just happened a few hours ago and some time before that as well. The frenzy of emotions he felt earlier was still there, but he could barely feel most of it now.

Apart from that, he felt some sort of tightening in his chest, making it a bit hard to breathe, which was curious since he's not aware of any disease he might have picked up, or was it because of his emotions as well?

In the end, a tired sigh slipped past Logan's lips as his head began to ache at his own confusion.

 _Emotions_ , he thought almost bitterly, _the bane of my existence._

At times like this, Logan knew he needed to speak to someone knowledgeable about such topics, or in other words, he needed to speak to Patton.

Suddenly, the name seemed a bit foreign to him, or was it because it was the first time he thought of the moral side or anyone at all in the last several hours?

Patton would know how to help him understand these… feelings. It won’t be the first time to ask his advice, as Logan had already done so a number of times before. However, he knew that this was certainly not a good time to do so.

He couldn’t help but remember how the moral side looked during their last conversation. Sadness and grief were clear in his eyes like polished glass as silent tears streamed along his cheeks. Logan wasn’t certain on how to describe Roman’s reaction, since the younger side’s head was hung low and his face was turned away from the other two. Perhaps he was still trying to comprehend the logical side’s words, maybe he was yet to fully grasp that _he_ wasn’t coming back, or maybe he did understood and it was a way of expressing his own grief.

Whatever what the creative side truly felt, Logan knew he needed to be strong for both of them. Patton would likely be the one who needed the most comfort, not only because he was the facet who held Thomas’ emotions and all the good and bad times of his life, but also because he was the only one close enough to be considered the youngest side’s friend. Logan lost count of the times Patton tried to include Anxiety in celebrations, activities, and all other events which all ended up in the latter denying or refusing to join in. Even when Anxiety lashed out on him a number of times before, Patton never gave up on him.

Roman’s relationship with Anxiety, however, was quite difficult to establish.

Logan knew that the two were never particularly fond of each other ever since they were children, but they all spent some of the bad and even good times together nonetheless. Each of them wished they knew more about him though. Before their host began sharing his problems with the manifested facets of his personality, it was an extremely rare sight to see any of the sides having a conversation with the negative facet, a conversation that isn’t an argument that is. Anxiety built walls around him and wouldn’t even allow anyone to become too close to him, as if they were a plague he desperately wanted to avoid.

They never really knew why of course, but now… they seemed to at least realize a hint behind the negative facet’s demeanor.

In Logan's case, cringed at the previous times he _logically_ explained that perhaps it was for the best for Anxiety not to join in certain celebrations as he was the embodiment of Thomas’ doubts and fears which could likely ruin the occasion he was attending. They were only children back then when he said this, but that wasn’t an excuse to the seemingly cruel way he acted towards the youngest side. He tried to make amends with the latter years later, but Anxiety wouldn’t even let him finish his words, let alone listen.

And now, it was too late.

Logan tried to ignore the sudden tightening in his chest once more, he needed to be strong. He needed to be there, for the others to see that they can rely on him. And so, Logan ignored everything else apart from his investigations and the needs of his fellow sides. He ignored the tightening in his chest, he ignored the fact that his vision was getting blurred by something, and he ignored the sharp inhale he took when he felt something wet streaming down his left cheek.

However, Logan did not know that he was grieving as much as the rest of his fellow sides were, and his refusal to do so was only causing more harm than good to himself. Away from his room, Patton sat at the edge of his bed while he flipped through the pages of an old yet precious album. He had given up going back to sleep a few hours ago when he kept dreaming of the youngest side. It was always the same, Anxiety stood in front of the abyss, not responding to Patton no matter how hard he tries to call out to him.

Roman tried to do his duties in his kingdom despite the recent events. But even the people of his realm noticed the change in the creative side’s behavior when he returned from the Commons. There was almost no trace of emotion in his face, and when given condolences by his fellow monarchs regarding the supposed loss of his fellow side, Roman could almost not give back a response other than a nod. It was unnerving.

And so, the core sides continue to grieve in silence throughout the rest of the day. One was locked in his room, endlessly continuing his investigations until exhaustion took over him. Another was in his room as well, hoping that it would give him at least the smallest amount of comfort, but in the end, it onlydeepened the hurt in his heart as memories of the youngest side began to swirl around his head. And the other was the most difficult to decipher, as his face only showed the slightest hint of emotion.

No one was able to sleep when the evening came.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile...

Young Anxiety tentatively opened the door to his corner of the mindscape. In the eyes of others, they would think that the room was nearly pitch dark but to the dweller of this particular room, he could see as fine as he could during the day.

However, to say that the room was a mess would be an understatement. Apart from everything looking like a complete wreck, there were also strange scratches along the floor and walls. Some scratches were even on the ceiling which was _weird_. He carefully took a few steps around the area, wondering what in the world had happened to have the room in such horrible state.

And yet at the same time, he felt something familiar about this place. What was that word again? Déja vu?

As Anxiety scanned his gaze all over the room, he caught sight of a piece of paper on the floor, its whiteness standing out in the destroyed room despite the darkness. Anxiety picked it up from the floor and gave it a quick look, eyes widening at the written words. Slightly alarmed, he thought of asking the other sides about it but before he could turn around, he felt something beneath his shoe.  
  
Anxiety looked down, realizing that he just stepped on some sort of book. He reached down and picked it up from the floor, only then he realized that it wasn't really a book, but a journal. It seemed old, though. The edges were slightly folded down, some of the pages weren't so white anymore, and the ink looked as if it's been smudged. But apart from the oldness being evident, another thing caught Anxiety's eyes as he studied the journal.

On the bottom right corner of its leather cover was a carefully marked letter "V".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo first of all I'm sorry this took way too long than necessary. And added to that, Science Month is just starting so you know what to expect: slow updates (please put the torches down) BUT! I will ALWAYS still have some time left to do the writing so hopefully, a new chapter will be published before the end of the month
> 
>  
> 
> Hopefully. Heh.
> 
> Also, I would like to point out that not every code I made is like a prophecy of what's yet to come. So do keep that in mind, perhaps one of you may find that there are codes that don't really predict and give hints, but are still incredibly important and might be even the key to the whole mystery of Virgil's Shadows.
> 
> Till next time all you wonderful human beings.
> 
> (Also don't forget to leave comments! I can be a dunce sometimes and my grammar and code-making skills aren't really that above average heh.)


	7. Chapter Six: A Fragment's Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cryptograms will be included in selected chapters from now on.

  
Several days later...

* * *

Anxiety pushed himself up on his bed and stared blankly at the wall that was in front of him, blinking as his vision adjusted to the darkness.

It's been an hour since he woke up from a dream. _Again_.

A sigh slipped past the young side’s lips. He slumped back onto his bed and closed his eyes, wishing his tired self to sleep once more. He tossed and turned to every side of his bed, sleeping with the blankets up to his chin, hugging a couple of pillows, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t go back to sleep.

Giving up, Anxiety opened his eyes and glared at the ceiling. These weird dreams he keeps having have been disturbing him ever since he came to the mindscape. From the first nap he took in Patton’s room down to his current situation. Now that he thought of it, he couldn’t consider if they were really dreams in the first place. They felt too real to be _just_ plain dreams. One thing for sure though, was that all of his dreams were too weird to ignore.

He could still remember some of them, even though he couldn’t make proper sense out of any of the sort. His most recent dream included a man who was holding a sword on one hand, his blade pointing towards something that was growling in the dark. He was yelling too, but Anxiety couldn’t make sense any of his words. His back was faced towards where Anxiety stood in his dream, raising the blade in what it seemed to be like a defensive stance towards the… _thing_ was the man was fighting.

He couldn’t clearly see the man, but he could tell that he has Thomas' face. Despite of the darkness that surrounded his dream, he was able to see the form of some sort of an animal– _no_.

Once Anxiety saw the creature raise a monstrous claw, he realized the better term to describe it was not an animal, but a beast. The man turned around to face him…

Wait a minute, he could see him?

The man ran towards him before Anxiety could take a step back, and then he placed one gloved hand on his shoulder and yelled something Anxiety couldn’t quite hear.

_You… here…_

_Now…_

_Run… run…_

_RUN!!!_

The beast let out a horrendous roar, and Anxiety thought his ears had shattered by the intensity of it.

The next thing he knew afterwards was waking up, drenched in cold sweat and shaking.

* * *

The entire dream felt oddly real. Just the mere thought of it brought back the bite of the freezing air and the uncomfortable feeling of something crawling around him while he was in that dream. It brought Goosebumps to his skin every time.

The young side remembered the other times he woke up from his strange dreams, one of them included waking up when he felt something damp sliding down his cheeks. It took at least a moment for him to realize that he was crying, or at least his eyes had become teary while he was asleep.

A bonus question would be how he was even capable of dreaming, but that was a question for another time. It's only been a while since he arrived in the mindscape after all.

Anxiety blinked. It _has_ been a while since he arrived in the mindscape. Time seemed to fly fast, considering that it's been nearly seven days since he arrived.

He remembered the past few days all too well, but he couldn’t remember the days before that. Just a sense of something very cold and dark enveloping him, and then, he opened his eyes and realized that someone was staring at him. Bewildered hazel eyes meeting his confused and frightened ones.

* * *

_After he met the stranger with glasses, the young boy did as he was told. He followed the man-- who calls himself “Logic” or “Logan”-- out of the dark room. At first, he wondered why the stranger had two names, but he decided that that wasn’t much of an important question anyway. The most important question he had in his mind and should be asking was, “Where… where am I?”_

_Logan stiffened, and the boy would have missed it if he had blinked at the second. Slowly, Logan turned around, one hand adjusting his glasses as he looked at the young child in a somewhat scrutinizing manner. They only stared at each other for a couple of seconds, and then Logan knelt one leg in front of him and said “Can you try to answer that?”_

_The boy’s eyes widened, but rather than replying that the reason why he was asking is because he doesn’t know in the first place, he found himself trying to answer his own question._

_Everything was quiet around the two of them. Well, at least that’s what the glasses-wearing man thought so. But for the little boy who stood in front of him, the word quiet was quite the opposite of what he was hearing around him._

_His mind was blank for a moment, but as the young boy continued to think, he began to hear distant noises at the back of his mind. He could even see a few images flashing before his eyes, but each was too quick to leave before he could even take a good look at any of them. But then, as he continued to thought, he slowly began to grasp the answer he was looking for._

_“The mindscape.” He said, albeit more so to himself._

_Logan didn’t respond for a few seconds, but the answer seemed to satisfy him once he gave the child a nod. “Do you know… what you are?”_

_The boy raised one eyebrow at him. Of course he knows what he is! He’s a… a…_

_He realized that it was a difficult thing to answer._

_Goodness, why was it even difficult to answer?_  
_He racked his mind once more as he searched for an answer. Thankfully, it wasn’t as difficult as before. “I’m… a Side?” He looked at Logan for confirmation which he received by a nod. “I’m one of… Thomas… our host, Thomas.” In the logical side’s perspective, it was as if he could see recognition lighting up in the boy’s eyes as he stumbled for his words. “I’m one of Thomas’ Sides.”_

_After another exchange of words, Logan decided to take the boy someplace else, someplace far away from the destroyed room where he found him. With a last look at the room’s dark mahogany door, Logan hesitantly placed one hand on the boy’s shoulder and the two began to walk._

_As they stride along the hallway, the boy slightly shivered as he felt the air getting colder . Each step he took seemed to make him feel colder. He tried rubbing his hands for warmth, yet it only provided little comfort. The coldest he felt was when he and Logan passed by a blue door, the second farthest from the dark room. Perhaps it was his imagination, but the young boy thought he saw a dark mist quickly passing through the wall before they descended downstairs._

_Logan led him to the living room and the two of them sat together. The older side continued to ask a few more questions about him and the boy tried to answer them as best as he could. Afterwards, the rest of the conversation was mostly about Logan explaining a few things about the mindscape, every part of the information sparking the young boy’s curiosity each time. Unfortunately, before the boy could ask a question, their conversation was cut short when Logan suddenly decided to leave, stating that he will bring someone for the boy to meet._

_Of course, the boy was already panicking, inwardly that is. His mind wondering frantically of what he might have done to make the older side leave and who might be this new someone is. Yet outwardly, he tried to make his face as neutral as possible. "Okay." He squeaked._

Great job _. He thought sardonically._

_Logan didn't notice this, however, or perhaps he had chosen to ignore it._

_By the time Logan left, the boy wondered why he still felt cold._

* * *

Then after that, Anxiety only felt even stranger during his first conversation with Patton.

* * *

_"Is it okay too if I ask your name?"_

_For a moment, the boy went quiet… but his mind wasn’t._

_He tried to think of it, to remember it. He should have a name, right? What was it? It was at the tip of his tongue, his name? His name was…_

_As the young boy began to thought, several images and thoughts flashed throughout his mind, each passing by so fast that he couldn’t recognize what it was all about before it disappeared. Pain pounded into his head as he sought for an answer, but where was it? Then he felt cold. His fingers began to tremble and the rest of his body followed. Before a second could pass, the pain in his head was beginning to mix with voices he couldn’t recognize. They were too loud, too loud that he didn’t even realize that Patton was talking to him, they were too loud, too loud, too loud, too loud–_

_Anxiety._

_He opened his eyes– when had he closed them?_

_Among the voices, he kept hearing that word. They kept saying it to him, again and again._

_Anxiety._

_Is that… his name?_

_The boy ended up sighing. He was surprised that racking his mind was exhausting, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. He felt tired, but at least he found his name…?_

_"Anxiety." He looked up to Patton, too tired to immediately notice the shock on the older side's face. "My name is Anxiety."_

\-------------------------------

He was well aware that 'Anxiety' meant the aspect of Thomas' personality that he represents, but perhaps there must be something more than that, right? The other Sides all have names apart from the title of what they represent. If he can remember 'Anxiety' … then maybe he can also try remembering his real name?

In the end, his lack of sleep overcame his wonders of what his name might be (if he really has one, that is). With a quiet sigh, Anxiety checked the clock beside his bed. The glowing green digits displaying the time 5:30 a.m.

Thirty minutes from now, Patton would be making breakfast. The young side thought. But there was no point in joining them, is there? The first time he had breakfast with the other three was just uncomfortable. Nobody spoke a word, and normally, Anxiety would enjoy the quiet. But whenever he ate with the sides, it was a tense kind of silence that hung on the air as if it was a bomb about to be dropped at any moment. Once or twice, he would notice one of the sides glancing at him when they thought he wasn't looking. Mostly, it was Patton or Logan. Roman, on the other hand, seemed to be doing whatever it took to avoid not only his gaze, but his entire presence as well. But when he does notice Anxiety, an angry look would appear on the older side's eyes. Afterwards, he would either mutter something under his breath or just storm off.

Either way, Anxiety made a conclusion of their behaviour around him just a few days ago: they don't seem to want him around. Not in an aggressive kind of way, of course. Well, _mildly_ on Roman's case. But in a way that could make things go awkward and… unpleasant.

And so, Anxiety decided to avoid them as well. He didn't know why they weren't comfortable with him but perhaps it was because that he's the embodiment Anxiety. Or at least, that's what he's been telling himself for a couple of days by now.

He made another quiet huff. First, he couldn't sleep last night because of his headaches and now he woke up and can't go back to sleep because of nightmares and a couple of reflections about the past few days.

I suppose there's nothing really interesting stuff left to do. He thought. Except for…

His eyes drifted to his desk. He could make out the shape of the journal he found several days ago. Up until now, Anxiety had chosen not to read the journal, considering that it was not his in the first place. But several days have passed by and no one seems to be looking for it so…

Hardly having another thought, Anxiety jumped out of his bed and flicked the lamp on. There on top of his desk was the old, black, leather-covered journal he found. The carefully written 'V' seemed to gleam under the light.

But before Anxiety could turn a page, he suddenly felt cold and shivered. His eyes widened, the only time he felt like this was--

His thoughts were cut by a hiss from above. Looking up, he saw several pairs of glowing yellow eyes staring back at him.

It only took two seconds for the young side to realize what was happening. But before he could move a muscle, the Shadows have started their descent upon him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that escalated quick.
> 
> Now, part of the reason why this took long is because I feel unsatisfied with this chapter and yet at the same time, it seems okay to me. I think the reason why I feel unsatisfied is because I struggled with writing some of the key points of this chapter. 
> 
> And then I thought, "I'll just put some notes at the end." And so...
> 
> Notes:  
> -As the title of the chapter says, this is the kid Anxiety thinking about some things that happened in the past few days.
> 
> -Apparently, kid Anxiety still doesn't know who V is. But I suppose, some of you guys already know who that is.
> 
> -Kid Anxiety mentioned that the other Sides don't seem comfortable with him. I would like to give you the idea that they're still "grieving". I know, I know. This story replaces the Accepting Anxiety videos, which means their relationship with Anxiety is still a bit rocky. But even so, imagine if you were in Patton, Logan, or Roman's shoes. How would you feel when one day, someone you know suddenly disappears and you don't even know how long since they've been gone?
> 
> -His dreams are more than just dreams.
> 
> -And lastly, I hope you remember the note Anxiety found in Chapter Five. 
> 
> So that's all I guess. Thank you for your patience you guys and please leave comments or questions you would like to ask and I'll try to reply as soon as possible. Once again, thank you so much you wonderful human beings. 
> 
> ALSO, I've always wanted to do this XD so I would like to mention DavidTheTraveller! This guy/gal/non-binary pal is a pure sunshine to the first few chapters of Virgil's Shadows!


	8. Chapter Seven: A Discussion About the Boy In the Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gl gsv ylb dsl hvvh wiztlmh rm gsv hpb  
> Wl mlg hgzmw zg nb tizev zmw xib  
> R zn mlg gsviv  
> R wrw mlg wrv

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PersonAlly, I think this chapTer is a Bit... crappy.
> 
> But anywAy and seriouSly though, tHank you for your patience.

  
“I’ve received reports from the borderlands, but none of them seem to involve anything about the Shadows.”

“It’s nearly been a week,” Roman paced around the room, groaning in exasperation. One hand was placed on his forehead, massaging it as an attempt to lessen the pain of the new headache throbbing in his head.

To say that his schedule was hectic would be an understatement. Ever since the incidents with the Shadows came up, there was an increase in meetings with various figments from the Imagination, more and lengthy hours of patrolling the borderlands, and not even counting the several tasks that needed to be done for Thomas’ future videos, apparently, Roman is not in his usual or should one must say: fabulous, nowadays. Added to that, his headaches were getting worse each day. Not enough to fully stop him from doing his duties, but enough to make him feel as if his head was constantly being poked by a thousand needles.

Although, a part of him seemed to be somewhat relieved that he was often occupied. With all the meetings and the patrols and work that needed to be done, it kept him busy from thinking about…

He didn’t let the thought finish. “How is it that one morning they show up and completely disappear from the mindscape the next?” Roman muttered, mostly to himself as he continued to pace.

“Well, apart from the fact that there were no Shadows detected since that particular morning,” Logan began “I’ve made a few discoveries during the past few days.”

Summoning a folder that appeared on his lap, Logan took several papers from it and showed one to Roman and Patton. “This,” he gestures to the drawing on the paper “is an illustration of the kind of Shadows most of your knights have witnessed, Roman.”

Patton furrowed his eyebrows at the drawing. “It’s like one of those Heartless creatures from Kingdom Hearts.” His voice lacked some of the usual cheeriness in it, having it replaced with a lace of solemnity that the eldest side rarely used. Deep down, it slightly unnerved Logan and Roman, but it made sense nonetheless. The issues they were dealing with are no laughing matter after all.

“Yes,” Logan says after a moment “they’re the manifestations of Thomas’s… unpleasant thoughts after all. It makes sense that it would be one of the forms they would take, since Thomas, as he had learned from the game, that the Heartless creatures are similar to being the embodiments of both dark thoughts and feelings.”

Logan shows them another illustration: a creature that had a dark mist cloud for a body and wide, circular eyes. “This is another type of Shadow, and it appears to be the type that is responsible for the nightmares and its effects, regarding of the fact that its appearance matches the description given by the figments who suffered from frequent nightmares.”

The last word made Roman remember some of the events during the past few months. It was supposed to be an ordinary day around that time. That was until a rather large group of villagers, both figments and minor Sides, arrived in his palace and began telling him stories about some sort of plague spreading around the realm.

He sent people to investigate of course, but when they returned, they were pale as snow and more than half of the men he sent were even trembling as they told their Prince of what had happened.

Roman shook the memory out of his head, deciding to focus on the matter at hand.

“What’s this one?”

A chill ran under Roman’s spine once he got a look at the picture Patton was pointing at. This Shadow was unlike the previous two where both appeared to have foreign yet seemingly harmless appearances. Though the illustration looked half-finished, it was evident that the creature in this picture resembled of what Roman could only describe as a beast.

“I’ve never heard of this one before.” Roman pondered aloud. “Neither from any knight nor from any of my people.”

“You’re correct. None of the figments I’ve interviewed mentioned a creature like this.” Logan replied, and then his face became grave. “At least, not from your realm.”  
  
Patton and Roman shared a look. One apprehensive yet curious as to whom this someone might be, yet the other already had his own suspicions as to who. “Was it Deceit?” Even though Roman knew that he shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions, he couldn’t help but suspect that the deceitful side actually had something to do with the Shadows.

"No, it’s not Deceit." Logan sighed, wiping his glasses with a handkerchief. "Besides, it’s been a while since we last saw him. I don’t precisely know who this figment is, but he came to me a few months ago, and before I could even ask who he was, he disappeared as mysteriously as he had arrived.”

“Maybe it was _him_?”

Logan thought for a moment, and then shook his head. “Possibly, but as I’ve said, among the things that I’m certain about this figment is that he’s not a dweller of Roman’s realm. And Mischief is considered a member of Roman’s realm.”

A tired sigh escapes Roman at the thought of the mentioned figment. That particular side certainly lived up to his name as shown by his specialty to cause almost any kind of trouble in the kingdom ever since Thomas was young. Fortunately, Mischief wasn’t causing any, well, mischief nowadays. A small part of Roman wondered why.

Glancing at the clock, Logan decides to adjourn the meeting. But before any of the sides could stand up, Patton raises a hand. “I think we’re forgetting something here, guys.” He says, a frown forming along the features of his face.

Logan raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”

Patton meets his gaze. “We need to talk about Anxiety.”

* * *

It was quite a known fact that when you begin to notice details of your surroundings, time seems to slow down for a while. That was why several movies portray car accidents in thrilling, slow motions.

Anxiety seemed to feel the same way.

As the Shadows descended, he snapped out of his gaze before they could even reach him. With speed he didn’t know he was capable of, Anxiety snatched the journal from his desk and took a hasty leap back, just in time before the Shadows could catch him with their inky limbs, and landed on the floor and on his desk with a splat, looking like splattered ink.

Anxiety’s heart was skipping beats. His grip on the journal was strong enough to turn his knuckles white, his gaze frantically searched for the door but before he could even move, the Shadows shifted again. The furniture where they landed on looked unharmed at first, but then his desk turned black and withered. It crumbled into dust as they congregated into their eerie forms once more, their wide, white eyes staring at Anxiety with glee.

The Shadows lunged again.

This time, Anxiety was more alert. He dug his shoes onto the ground and dashed towards the door, heart beating faster and faster. He wasn’t aware that he was shivering, but even if he was, Anxiety wouldn’t think that it was from the fear and not from the cold.

Then he stopped, right on time before he could slam onto the wall forming right in front of him. A wall of inky, dark liquid that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. White spots appeared on its surface as a line formed beneath every pair, each one stretching far from the corners of the spots. A chill ran down Anxiety’s spine once he realized what the Shadows were doing.

They were _smiling_.

“W-what do you want from me?!” His voice was hoarse and it nearly cracked. The young side fought every urge to look away from the monsters in front him, his legs felt weak but he remained standing nonetheless. He wouldn’t allow himself to cower in front of these freaks.

A chorus of distorted giggles replied him. They moved towards Anxiety again, but this time, more slowly, more… menacing. Their sickening excuse of a smile remained plastered on their "face".

**“YOU DO NOT REMEMBER”**

_What?_

But there was no time to ponder about those words. Anxiety’s eyes widened as the wall quickly began to melt. A part of the melting wall started to mould into a sharp and blade-like object while the rest of its “body” formed into limbs.

His breath quickened and his heart pounded even more. It was getting too cold to the point that it seemed to burn his skin. Anxiety managed to move his trembling arms and hid the journal in his jacket as he took several steps back. His breaths became icy clouds whenever he got the chance to exhale and he could even feel his legs shake even more than before. Once again, he didn’t know what was causing him to be like this: the cold or the fear?

 _Both_. He thinks hopelessly.

Then something made Anxiety stop. His back had hit something solid. Frankly it was good to have something concrete to touch since it seemed to ground him to reality, but upon realizing that the object his back had hit was the wall, Anxiety could only stare in horror as he realized what could that only mean.

He was trapped. With nowhere else to run to.

The Shadows had become one, and they were dragging their blade-like arm towards him, it was raised and it may be just Anxiety’s imagination but he thought he saw it gleam in the darkness.

He was trapped, there was no other way to go, he was trapped, he was going to die, oh no, he was going to die, he was–

 _Closet_.

_Wait, what?_

Where did that voice come from?

Time seemed to freeze as Anxiety’s head pounded with an unfamiliar memory. Images flashed in his mind, most were too quick to appear and disappear but he could make some sort of sense out of some. At the same time, the strange voice came back.

_The closet._

Anxiety's eyes went to the closet just several feet away from him to his right. How's a closet going to help? This is ridiculous! He argued, whilst watching at the Shadows walking towards him dangerously.

_Just get in!_

But before the young side could argue back, his thoughts were quickly cut when he heard the Shadows' gleeful shriek.

_Get in the closet. Now!_

Not exactly knowing what he was doing, but doing it anyway considering he was about to be cut in half by a gruesome, ink monster, Anxiety narrowly avoided the attack and dashed towards the nearby closet. Thankfully, the Shadow’s blade-like arm was stuck on the wall when it tried to strike him, giving the young side time to unlock the closet. He had closed it a few days ago since he still had the childish fear of a monster hiding in the closet. Now that he was thinking that it might actually be something that can help him escape from an actual monster, Anxiety couldn’t help but feel his current situation to be ironic.

He grabbed the key that was hidden below the closet and began to unlock it as fast as he can. The lock fell on the ground with a thud. Anxiety wasted no time grabbing it and getting inside his closet as the Shadows finally got their arm free. They charged towards him in undisguised rage and anger.

Anxiety hastily slammed the closet doors, trapping him inside, and once he lost count of time all the while as he breathed in and out, he no longer heard the enraged growls of the Shadows.

Soon enough, Anxiety couldn’t see anything but the darkness, and couldn’t hear anything but the silence.

* * *

The silence hung heavy in the air.

The familiar thorns of guilt pricked Logan as he could only stare and say nothing. The thought of the youngest side had completely slipped off his mind. It may as well have also reminded him of the fact that he’s been avoiding the child since the day he met him.

Roman, on the other hand, had simply looked away, avoiding neither of the Sides' eyes. There were several different emotions flickering on his face, however, most could only be describe as unsure or unreadable.

Patton’s eyes eventually softened at the look both the logical and creative Side have in their lowered gazes. This wasn’t easy for him as well. He was the eldest, the Dad, the one responsible for keeping their family together, but the loss of their previous Anxiety had become taken a toll on him. Some days he would grieve and stay in his corner of the mindscape, and a room filled with precious memories of the past certainly didn't help him at all, while some days he would feel a bit okay, still unhappy, but okay. But then it all comes crashing down whenever he encountered the new– younger Anxiety.

Patton remembered the last time he saw the boy, a few days ago or so. It was just so strange, looking at him with his own eyes and not finding the usual sneer of displeasure and annoyance in his gaze. Even his actions don’t even seem to connect to the Anxiety they know. The boy was a bit… open, in a way. He offered to help doing chores and stuff, and even tried to initiate a conversation though it was apparent that he didn’t seem comfortable with the idea of doing so. He’s also smiled more than the older Anxiety had, even though they were only small ones. He still wears black, though, and instead of eye shadow, he had smudged eye liner below his eyes.

But it wasn’t like Patton wished that he could see more of the previous Anxiety in the child one, no, that would be wrong. It was just whenever Patton looked at him, it made him wonder about a few things. Sometimes, he even wondered that if they had known Anxiety a little bit more, if they had made him feel more welcome as they grew up from children to adults, and if they had done more to reach out to him, would he have been like this? Would he have been like the child?

Patton even wondered that perhaps Anxiety’s demeanor when he was younger was almost exactly as the child’s, but because of how badly they made him feel alone and isolated… maybe that was the reason why he always had the dark look on his eyes.

 _Anxiety_. Come to think of it, they never even found out his real name.

Another pang of guilt struck Patton on the chest, yet at that moment, he managed not to let it consume him entirely. Not now, he thought, it was time to face the situation.

“To put it short...” Patton started softly “we’ve been avoiding him. All of us.”

Silence. Patton marched on.

“I know it’s difficult, even though he was almost always a bit gloomy and more than once, we kind of disagreed with him about a lot of stuff. Even so… he was still one of us.” _He was still family_. “But then… he was gone, all of a sudden.”

Logan briefly met his gaze. His voice was quieter than a whisper, but in a room that was quiet as well, it was nearly as loud and clear. “We weren’t even aware of how long he had been gone.”

Logan may not have noticed it, but from the corner of his eye, Patton saw Roman flinch.

Even though both Logan and Roman didn't appear to be affected over the loss of the previous Anxiety as it had affected Patton, it was evident that they were both hurting from the inside.

Patton knew that the knowledge about the Shadows Logan recently told them was because of the sleepless nights the logical side got from studying the information he previously acquired. It was at the very least that Patton managed to get him to eat at least two decent meals and perhaps even managed to get the logical side to rest, even for a few minutes. Even so, it was apparent that Logan was still exhausted.

Roman, on the other hand, had become quiet ever since Logan told them about the child Anxiety. While he still talks about his ideas and plans for the future, the change in voice was noticeable, with the way his voice seemed to lack that usual passion, or how he seemed to force his voice to sound passionate on several occasions. It was also worth mentioning that the more Roman seem to spend more and more time in his realm each day, the more he looked tired and beat each time he returned.

And now as Patton looked at the younger side, taking note of the Prince's disheveled hair, ruffled clothes, and the eye bags forming beneath his eyes, it was apparent as well that Roman looked more worn out than Logan already appears to be.

Yet whatever what Roman was doing in his realm, Patton suspected that it was some sort of way for him to cope.

Even though Roman and Anxiety weren't precisely the best of friends, nor even close they were to being friends, they still grew up together. Occasionally, both were even willing to help each another when it was absolutely necessary.

“That’s true.” Patton rubs his arms, looking away. “I don’t know how to put this in other words but…” He paused for a moment. “I know that we’re all thinking that we should have done better, to Anxiety, I mean.

Patton takes a deep breath before continuing, knowing that the next words were going to be rather difficult for him to say. His chest seemed to constrict as he went on. "I think the reason why we’re kind of avoiding him is because it hurts to see him. And it hurts… because we miss him." He says; glancing at Roman who hasn't yet met anyone's gaze since the current topic was brought up. "And I know this is more difficult to say but...” Patton swallowed a sob “we have to carry on and…”

Patton paused, biting his lower lip. “It’s what Anxiety would’ve wanted us to do.” He finally says, voice almost a whisper.

_No one deserves to be forgotten_

He turns his gaze away and stares at his shoes. He could feel the tears stinging in his eyes, blinking a few times to stop them from falling, because if a single tear did, Patton knew he wouldn’t be able to control the next.

But just when the moral Side finally got a grip of his emotions, he nearly stiffened when he felt someone's arms wrapping around him. Embracing him, tightly, and yet, comforting in a way.

Though his eyes were blurry from the tears forming again in his eyes, Patton somewhat knew that the one hugging him was Logan, and it only made him lose the grip he previously held on his emotions, as well as the tears he thought he had in his control.

Initially, he was surprised that Logan actually _hugged_ him, but Patton could only pay less attention to it as he felt the weight of his heart became heavier. Not a second passes by, and Patton let his tears fall and wept quietly on Logan's shoulder.

_No one deserves to fade away_

Not a moment later, he felt another pair of arms embracing him. _Roman_. The youngest of the three seemd a little hesitant compared to Logan, but it was a hug nonetheless, and so, Patton wraps both of his arms around the two of them as well. The three of them locked in one another's embrace, not a pair of dry eyes among them.

Eventually, they broke apart one by one, but Logan remained a hand on Patton's shoulder and says, "You're correct..." His voice was calm as before and yet there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Anxiety deserves to be among us, and even before, we should have welcomed him as one of us..." he looks away for a moment, recalling his younger self on one Christmas Eve. _"It would be highly illogical for the literal embodiment of trepidation to join us. He might even make Thomas more nervous than he already is."_  
  
Logan internally winced at the memory, but didn't let it replay all over his head.

_No one should come and go and have no one know he was ever even here._

He looks back at Patton, determination in his eyes. "But we will not make the same mistake again."

_No one deserves to disappear..._

"This time, he will know that he is a part... of our _family_."

* * *

Soon afterwards, each of the Sides returned to their own doings. All of them promising to change their actions and carry on as Patton had said.

Well, almost all of them.

While both Patton and Logan already have plans on how to spend and know the child, Roman on the other hand, didn't know what to think.

The regal Side could only stare at the door of the youngest Side's room, his loosely clenched hand hovering just a few inches above the wood.

Roman quietly groaned and shook his head, rubbing his forehead with his other arm as another headache began to throb.

The regal side was about to continue his silent debate whether to knock the door or not, and yet, he only ended up arguing with himself. Believing that this was a terrible idea.

Why did he even think this was a good idea? What would he even say when Anxiety opens the door?

Then a thought made Roman freeze.

Would he even open the door if he knew it was Roman knocking?

He stares at the door again. Eventually, Roman lets his hand fall down and began walking away from Anxiety's room.

When the creative Side arrived in his own room, Roman shoved every thought about the anxious side into the back of his mind. He changed clotes as soon as he picked ones that seemed formal enough for royal meetings, not even lasting two seconds as he picked. He brushed his hair almost briskly, grabbed his sword and stood in front of a wardrobe.

Roman took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he began thinking of his realm, picturing it as precisely as he can. The lands that stretched as far one could see, the crowded towns and markets, the quiet villages resting near the farms and forests, the people that lived in his realm, Sides and figments alike, but most of all, he pictured the place he wanted to go.

A few more seconds later, Roman opened his eyes and gently opened the wardrobe. In front of him lay the main chambers of his castle. The walls were decorated with golden linings near the ceiling, along with that, a few frames were hung, most notably frames of people known for their contributions to the arts. Near the clear, glass window that was covered by red curtains were two large bookshelves and simple yet elegantly carved desk and chair made from mahogany. Papers, books, a quill and ink laying on top of it.

Roman lets out a tired sigh. He checks the time on the grandfather clock and realized that he was already a few minutes late for the meeting. With a small glance back at his room, Roman stepped into the wardrobe and closed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The closets and wardrobes are like teleporters or portals to another realm. Who knew?
> 
> Now as I've mentioned before, I don't think this chapter is written well and for that, I hope some of you readers can leave out some constructive criticism. Also, I'm not sure but if I remember correctly, I left a note or code that says that after the next three chapters, I will be using A1Z26 cipher. The funny thing is I realized that its ciphers are too long therefore I'm crossing that one out. To the decoders out there, I suppose the ciphers I'm going to use for now are Atbash and Caesar ciphers. Once again, thank you guys for reading this chapter, leave a comment if it's okay for you, and thank you so so much for still reading this story despite it takes me time to publish the next chapters. Thank you sooo much.
> 
> One last thing, is it okay if I delete the chapter that isn't really a chapter? The one after chapter two? It's still okay though if you guys don't want to.


	9. Chapter Eight: And the voice within speaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello I have returned to the land of the living.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Difficulty breathing, a few mentions of the word “burning” or “burn”, and a description of a (SPOILER ALERT) scary forest. I don’t know why I consider that a warning but hey, you never know. If any of these makes you feel uncomfortable, it’s okay if you don’t want to read this part. I understand, don’t worry.

Anxiety woke up with a headache pounding in his head and the dark foreboding in his stomach that he was going to vomit at any moment. His muscles ached and yet at the same time, they felt strangely numb and limp. Though his thoughts were becoming less and less fuzzy, he was still vaguely aware of his own movements, such as the fact that he was adjusting his legs into a much more comfortable sitting position.

Wait, sitting position?

The memory of what nearly happened to him hit the young Side like a freight train. His memories came rushing all of a sudden, most particularly the memory of the Shadows being in his room, attacking and even trying to kill him.  
  
The last thought made Anxiety hitch his breath as his chest suddenly felt heavy and tight. He clasped his shirt with one hand when the pain in his chest started to burn. His other hand shot forward to look for something solid to touch and ended up opening the closet doors, making him fall face flat onto the ground in an instant. Dirt clung to Anxiety’s clothes and he could even taste some of it in his mouth and yet, rather than reacting out of disgust, it only made the young boy snap out of his thoughts as a realization hit him.

He was no longer in his room.

He knew that even if he had remained in there, the possibility of the Shadows still lurking the darkness clearly wouldn’t make his situation easier. But where he was now, it didn’t define the words “safe and sound” either. Anxiety slowly stood his trembling legs as he looked around for the closet, but froze in horror once he realized it was no longer there.

The only thing that surrounded him now was a forest filled with rotten, dark trees that seemed to stretch far into the open. Their gray, colour-less leaves blocking almost every part of the sky, leaving only a small number of gaps and yet there was no trace of light that travelled through it. The ground itself was bare and concealed with mist, thin grass could be faintly see but it didn’t have the shade of green nor any kind of colour that defined “alive”. The air was cold and damp, and a bit foul-smelling as if something was rotting close to where Anxiety was standing.

All in all, the scenery in front of him certainly did not help his situation, and it only made breathing even more difficult. And yet, in spite of it all, Anxiety found himself studying the land around him. Eyeing the trees, the grass, and occasionally even smelling the air as a faint sense of familiarity crept in him. But why? Why did this place look rather… famil–

His thoughts were harshly cut off when he felt an immense pain throb in his head, as if multiple veins had burst in his mind and his head was being brutally squeezed by a thin line of thread. White flashed before Anxiety’s eyes and the next thing he was barely aware of was that he was falling onto his feet.

Images and unknown voices echoed in Anxiety’s head. His ears rang with the intensity of all the noises, the scenes were flashing too quickly and too brightly to the point that his eyes began to feel like burning. Anxiety covered his ears with his hands and writhed on the ground, switching between pulling his hair and clawing his own ears in a useless effort to stop all the chaos happening in his mind.

_Not again! Not again!_

Anxiety continued to writhe and his body began to shake violently as he was losing in his battle to get oxygen in his lungs. He couldn’t understand any of it! He couldn’t breathe, there were too many of them, too bright, too loud, too loud–

_Too loud– too loud– too loud– too loud– too loud– too loud– too loud– too loud– too loud– too loud– too loud– too loud–_

_“Breathe!”_

One voice rang clearly in his chaotic mind. Anxiety miraculously managed to identify it as the voice that had helped him earlier, but he could only shake his head in response, too much in pain to be even surprised at the voice’s return.

_I can’t… I can’t!_

But it did not waver. Its tone was like a stream of light in the darkness of Anxiety’s mind. _Listen to me, okay? Just focus on my voice. You’re going to be okay._

Was he? Anxiety could almost groan at that and yet at the same time, he found himself calming even for a little bit as he listened to the voice. The noises were still there, overlapping with each other, but Anxiety was thankful that his eyes didn’t hurt as much as before, in spite of the images still flashing several times.

“ _You can hear me, right? Okay, just focus on that and you’re going to be all right. It paused. Breathe in for four seconds_. ”

Anxiety frowned at that. How was he going to breathe if he was having difficulty doing so in the first place?

But seeing that there was nothing else that he could do, the boy tried to follow the advice. His first attempt ended him coughing up the breath he miraculously managed to inhale, but the voice encouraged him to try again, and the young Side did, succeeding on his second try. _One… two… three… four…_

The voice spoke. “ _Okay, you’re doing great. Now hold your breath for seven seconds._ ”

Anxiety did what he was told, thankful for the sense of calmness slowly creeping into him as he followed the voice’s instructions. Holding his breath for seven seconds, and then exhaling his breath for eight seconds as the voice had instructed. He still felt exhausted though, his forehead was lined with sweat and his hair felt slightly damp, but other than that, he was okay. He felt okay.

Once he felt that his breath was steady, Anxiety gathered enough strength and raised himself from the ground and sat on it, pulling his knees up and ducking his head between them. In for four, he thought, hold for seven, and then out for eight.

It took Anxiety at least four more times for him to completely ease his nerves. His body no longer trembled, he still shuddered a few of his breaths but at least there were no more weird noises and images flashing in his head.

The young Side lifted his head up and took another deep breath. He opened his eyes and was greeted with the scenery in front of him. The forest, no matter how Anxiety looked at it, was creepy beyond any reason possible. Even though he could still feel the ill sensation tingling down his spine whenever he looked too much, he was glad that it didn’t seem to scare him as much as before, to the point that it actually made him feel like dying.

He never felt anything like that before. Curious, he thought. Perhaps it’s a part of who he is, of what he represents, perhaps not. He doesn’t really know for sure, only that each day seems to be a bundle of new things for Anxiety to learn about himself, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. But what he felt just recently was neither of the two, it was terrifying. Why did his chest felt so heavy and tight? Why couldn’t he breathe? Why did he felt like he was drowning? And why did his head hurt so much–

“ _It’s some sort of panic attack_. ”

Anxiety whipped his head around. “You!” He said, even though there was no one there. “You’re the one who helped me a while ago too!”

“ _Excellent deduction_.” The voice almost sounded sarcastic but Anxiety paid it no heed. The boy continued to stand there as he chose his next words.

“What you did just right now, um…” He rubbed his neck out of embarrassment, not exactly sure on what to say. “Thank you.”

The voice didn’t reply quickly. “ _No problem_.” It said.

Anxiety didn’t know what to say afterwards, so instead, he proceeded with a question. “How did you know I had a panic attack?”

“ _I didn’t say you have a panic attack._ ” It said crossly. “ _And I just know_.”

 _Well that’s not a good answer,_ Anxiety frowned. “Are you a Side or something?”

“ _No, Sides have physical appearances_.” The voice said, almost as if it was already obvious. “ _But I am a part of you, that’s for sure. Wherever you go, I follow._ ” Then it added something in a quieter voice, almost like muttering. “ _Whether I want to or not…_ ”

Anxiety tilted his head at that. “Huh?” The voice didn’t say anything afterwards, and Anxiety slightly shivered when he realized how quiet his surroundings were, occasionally broken by the hoot of an owl or the faint beating of wings echoing throughout the sky.

 _Now what do I do?_ Anxiety thought. The closet was gone and he had no idea where he was. He could try walking around, but the chances were that he’d be lost before the day had even ended. Anxiety glanced up, realizing that the skies seemed to have the constant shade of gray. How was he even supposed to know what time it was?

Then a thought crossed Anxiety’s mind. “ _Hey_ ,” He said “are you still there?”

It was quiet. Had the voice left him? “Listen, I know I’m asking a lot of questions but do you know how I can get back home?”

“ _No_. ”

“Oh.”

Anxiety hunched his shoulders and sighed, sitting back on the ground as he began to think. His memory about the recent incident remained a bit unclear, but he could recall bits and pieces now and then, as if he was solving a puzzle in his head; lining up the pieces he could remember with the gaps in the memory that left him baffled

As the young Side did this, he began to notice a few things that made him rather curious. Before he got into the closet and got teleported to who knows where, the Shadows had said something that had him confused.

“YOU DO NOT REMEMBER” The Shadows had said. But remember what? Had Anxiety done something wrong? If he did, then what? Nevertheless, he wasn’t especially surprised if he couldn’t remember the things that the others said he had done, after all, it’s not like it’s the first time someone said so. The other Sides back in the Mindscape had said something along those lines as well, or at least, in a way that was implicit. But then again, they've always acted strange towards him anyway.

His thoughts were cut off when he saw something move below him. Just right on the tips of Anxiety’s sneakers was a black form emerging from the ground and slithering before the young Side. A scream got stuck in Anxiety’s throat as he stared at the creature in front of him, the dark, shadowy, thing in front of him.

One word cut off every other thought Anxiety had in his frenzied mind:

 **Run**.

He may feel like all the bones have left his body but that didn’t stop Anxiety from running like a madman. He didn’t even look back, only kept on running, with no care of where he was heading and the goal to get away as far away as possible.

The boy only managed to stop when he tripped over a root, sending him face-flat onto the ground once again. Suddenly his world was spinning, his vision became blurry, and there was an undeniable taste of blood mixing with dirt in his mouth. He also felt a stinging pain in his knees, making him regret that he had worn shorts instead of pants when he was deciding what to wear earlier.

But the pain didn’t end there. His breaths were in shuddering gasps, his chest hurt, and he felt cold– had the Shadows caught up to him? Or perhaps they were already there and Anxiety didn’t know because he couldn’t bring himself to turn around? What if they were just right behind him? What if they were already attacking him and he didn’t know it? What if– what if– what if–

“ _Hey! Hey! No one’s after you, remember to breathe! In for four, remember? Then hold for seven– yeah, that’s it. Keep going. Now, out–_ ”

“Out… o-out for eight.” Anxiety managed to say. The thought of the Shadows following behind never left him as he did the breathing exercises and his knuckles were already white from clutching his own fists too hard.

Anxiety took a few more deep breaths before he continued, one hand clasping his heavy chest. “W-where did… where did the Shadows go?”

“ _I told you, no one was chasing you…_ ” Then it added. “ _You probably got scared of your own, ordinary shadow_.”

Anxiety felt a kind of heat rising in his cheeks, one that of embarrassment. Has he already become that gutless and easily scared to the point that he was afraid of his own shadow? Literally? Anxiety pulled his hoodie to conceal his entire face, tugging at the drawstrings as he realized how he ran all the way from who knows where for no particular reason. “Thanks by the way.” He said after a moment, once he was no longer scolding himself internally.

“ _No problem_ ,” the voice said, “ _and I’m sorry_.”

That made Anxiety perk up. “What…? Why?”

The voice sounded like it was sighing. “ _I should’ve told you before but I didn’t know how to, so… sorry_.”

Anxiety arched an eyebrow, confused. Carefully sitting upright, the boy gently rubbed a sore spot on his forehead before asking the voice why it was apologizing. “What? What do you mean?”

The silence that followed stretched longer than a minute, leaving Anxiety to wonder why it was taking it so long to reply and why it had suddenly sounded quite nervous before. Was the voice hiding something from him?

Anxiety was about to speak when the voice finally returned, unfortunately, it didn’t give an answer that he found to be enough. “ _Never mind,_ ” it said, “ _let’s just focus on getting back home for now_.”  
  
“Oh come on, just spit it out.” Anxiety grumbled.

“ _No_.” It replied stubbornly. “ _Getting back home is more important. And I will tell you some time in the future, but not right now_.”

Anxiety remained unsatisfied, but he supposed the voice had a point nonetheless. Wincing at the sting of his scraped knees, he gently stood up with the support of a stone that was close to him. He noticed that the grass around him were dry but taller compared to the ones he had seen earlier, yet the mist still concealed most of the ground and the fog was still thick. How was he supposed to get back home if he couldn’t even see where he was going?

“ _Hey, voice?_ ” It was weird calling the voice by simply for what it is. Anxiety made a mental note to ask if it had a name later. “ _Got any ideas where to start?_ ”

While he waited for its answer, Anxiety narrowed his eyes as he gazed at his dull surroundings, placing a hand just right above his as he strained to see anything that could help him start finding his way back.

“ _Look! There’s something glowing over there_.”

“Where?” Anxiety turned his head around and found what the voice meant. A couple of meters away from where he was standing, there was a glowing haze flickering nearby. The glow seemed bright enough for Anxiety to see, but he wasn’t close enough to know what it actually was or where the light was coming from. Anxiety was about to take a step when the voice spoke again.

“ _Wait_ ,” It said “ _what if it’s dangerous?_ ”

Anxiety raised an eyebrow at that. “Well, we nearly got killed by the Shadows not so long ago and we’re lost in some creepy, dark forest.” He shrugged. “Of course it’s dangerous.”

The voice paused. “ _All right, just… just be careful._ ”

“All right.” Anxiety followed the voice’s words, knowing that it was a necessity to be cautious regarding that he is lost after all; although there wasn’t anything much of a problem as he headed towards the glow. Yet strangely enough, there were a few shards of glasses along the way and in the thick fog, Anxiety could make out shapes of what it looked like to be tall, rectangular stones scattered all over the place. The wind started to howl as he continued to pace, dry leaves swirled around in the air as distant noises started to rise from who knows where, noises that almost sounded like whispering.

Anxiety swallowed the nervous lump in his throat; his hands went into the pockets of his hoodie as his eyes started to look back and forth whenever he heard something suspicious. The path beneath him began to turn into a slope, and at the same time, the yellow glow was becoming clearer and clearer to see.

Once he reached the top, Anxiety quietly grumbled as the dust that got carried along the wind reached his eyes. Rubbing them for a bit, his vision was slightly blurry when he opened them.

In front of Anxiety was the glow he was looking for. However, he realized that the glow wasn’t really a circle, and its light was coming from the hollow inside of what it appeared to be a pumpkin.

No, scratch that. He realized that he was looking at a jack-o-lantern, and below the jack-o-lantern were hay and fabric decorated to look like arms, legs, and a torso. “A scarecrow?” Anxiety wondered aloud.

The fog around him began to clear, revealing a wooden sign above the glowing pumpkin. One that read: “HALLOWEEN TOWN”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending's abrupt, I'm aware. Yet I do not think I can stand it if I don't update for another month. Though I'm sure when's the next update is going to be (getting really busy with academic stuff lately. We just finished our musical play.), I assure you that I WILL still post. Heh.


End file.
